Space heater



April 14, 1942 R. B. EVANS I SPACE HEATER 'Filed Aug. 18, 1939 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Rs Y x m V o WK m B u m M 0 13M R /6 III/M Y Tax \a 5 T8 \m ,2 m

A ril 1 4; 1942.

R. B. EVANS SPACE HEATER Filed Aug. 18, 1939 2 Shgets-Sheet 2 ATTGRNEY.

Patented Apr. 14, 942

; om nsim PATENT OFFICE 2,279,955 'sracnmis'ran Robert B. Evans, Grosse Pointe, Mich.,.,assignor i t to Evans Products Company,-Detroit, Mich, a

corporationof Delaware e Application August 18,1939, Serial No. 290,878

16' claims) (01. 126-110) Thisinvention relates 'spaceh'eaters or the like, and particularlyto theportable or movable floor supported cabinet type ,of unit space heaters containing a combustion unit, suchas an upright and direct fired, expansion heating drum, to heat air toja high temperature and an air circulating ,fan in said cabinet. or casing for forcing the circulation of partof this high temperature air through r ooihsjsmall homes or the like. Theremaining portion of the heated air is circulatedby the natural upward convection current in said. heater. Preferably, a high temperature, air heating duct having open ends exprovide, such a space heater, the cabinet of which contains an upright expansion. drum for the products of combustion above thebumers, the high temperature air heating duct extending downwardly through said drum, and having a blower (preferably an upright; horizontally directed, propelleretype fan located in theup'per horizontal portion of said duct) to force air downwardly therethrough and out of thehorizontally directed discharge positioned close tobut spaced slightly above the room floor in the uprightfrontwall of the cabinet;

tends downthrough the 'expansiondrum so that it is surrounded by the, products of combustion;

A. blower or ,fan discharges outside "air, into the 'upper end bums duct and forcesit, downwardly and out through thefhorizontally directed opening at p the lowe'r end whichfcooperates with an 1 openingjspacedfslightly 'above theflfloor in the cabinet, front and including vane means to deflect the high; temperature air intoa substantially horizontal stream across and close to but safely above the room floor. The heater may operate with natural upward convection at the same time.

, This inventionalso relatesto space heaters of the general character shown in the'prior application, of myself and Eugene F. Farrell, Serial .bodies features disclosed and claimed therein.

The general arrangement and structure of the cabinet, the doors,heating drum with its oil burners, fuel controls, the fuel tank mounted in a smaller upright side chamher having a convection air flowto cool the tank and formecl by a transverse shielding or insulating partition, and

the like are, or may bejgenerally similar to this i prior application, Also, the 'featureof providing a fan-forcedfstream of high temperature air horizontally across andclose to butsafely above the room 1100i and thejadditional feature r haviing an jfan draw its air supply from" the warm-ed ,air rising aroundthe oiltank are commonto this i pr or app icat o In general. the objects [or the b esehtinven, tion are toprovide an ln proved and simplified space heater having a. blower or. fan-forced low level, but safe, discharge; of high temperature air horizontally across but close to the room floor, to achievefthebeneflts]of better heat distribuftion or thefiike from this low level discharge derlying parts, some of saidparts being shown 45 I 1 metal formed and secured in any conventional "clos1ire and. the drawings, inwhich:

" substantially on the line 5,-5 r Fig.4.

Another object is the provision oi normal upward convection circulation of heated sit up through a large air heating passageway between fsaid heating drum and cabinetwallssimultanelow level discharge. ,Another object is the provision of ously with the above-mentionedblower-forced,

means to prevent hot air circulating upwardly past'the fan driving electric motor positioned in the upper end of said' duct when the motorand fan are notrunning'. Other objects are to provide particularly efllcient conformations and*arrangements for said high temperature, air heating duct.

Other and moredetailed objects andadvantagesjwill be ap arent fromvthefollowing dis- Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a space heater embodying my invention; with most of the outer casing shown' broken away to reveal unin section; e

. Fig. 2 15 a transverse section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of 1; l

Fig. 3 is a view,in vertical section, taken substantially on the line 3-4 of Fig. '1;

Fig. 4 is a view of another embodiment of my invention, in vertical section, and taken sub stantially, on the line or Fig. 5; and

Fig.5 is ahorizontal,transversesection taken :,The outer body-or casing l is formed of sheet or desired manner. This casing Iis of substantially rectangular transverse crosssection and is in the form ofthe socalled low-boy without dangerous or objectionable. heating of the floor close tothe heater cabinet. More particularly, the objects of this invention are to 5 type ofcabinet. The cabinet is supported] at its corners and is spaced above the floor bytfeet 3 which are sheet metal stampingsa The bottom plate Iis suitably secured; to close the-bottom of the Tcabinet completely except for the combustion airintake openings 2 andthe space under the oiltank i or on the other side of the partition 8, which space is left open.

The tank 3 for liquid fuel, such as oil, is removably mounted by suitable clips on and spaced from the outermost plate SI of the partition shield 3 formed of two spaced, suitably secured, sheet metal plates. Thus this tank 5 is insulated from the heat and is also cooled by the air which rises freely through the open bottom of this smaller upright chamber up and around the fuel tank. This tank 5 has a suitable swing-out filling spout and a level indicator, and access may be had thereto through a conventional door. The plates of the partition. 6 are suitably secured to the base plate 2 and brace the shell I.

The combustion-heating unit, designated as a whole by reference numeral 3, includes a sheet metal heating drumhaving a top 8 and upright side walls [supported and closed by the bottom plate 2. Supporting partition I3 is suitably securedto the wall ,I and carries conventional pottype oil burners l4 incorresponding openings therein. The space in the drum above partition plate I! forms an expansion chamber for the products of combustion, and the space'below the drum forms a combustion chamber.

A sheet metal, radiation heat shield, or a drum-enclosing wall 63 is uniformly spaced about the drum'. 1-4 bysuitable brackets or straps 81 so that. this'iwall defines-or separates two upwardly extending air heating passages, both ,of

which communicate freely with the large area upper opening grilles 29. Note that this wall 56 terminates short of the bottom of the upright drum.

Oil is 5 through pipe to a conventional regulating valve and level maintaining float unit I8 which is suitablymounted in the open bottom below the oil burners. The oil supply for each burner is regulated by a rotary valve, each of which is manually controlled by an inclined, upwardly extending shaft line 22 and 23 connected by universal joints and. rotated bysuitable indiciacarrying controlwheels. l9 and 2| which project out through the upper front wall of the cabinet. Pipes I6 and I1 carry the oil to each of the burners ll. 4

All of the above structure is substantially like that disclosed in the above-mentioned prior application. 7

Base plate 2 has combustion air inlet openings 25 which may have regulating means such as the pivoted, adjustable plates or dampers 26. The products of combustion expand and give oi! heat in the expansion chamber and rise up 'to and through the flue or stack connection 21 in the upper end and back of the drum wall I.

to rise out through the top openings 23 or else, when the fan is running, to be all or partly drawn into the duct 33, depending upon the power of the fan 43. It will be'apparent that 'this separate, upwardly extending .and smaller chamber having an open top and an open bottom and containing the oil tank and the oil controls This connection 21 extends'th rough a suitable opening in the wall 68 and is r'eceivedin a conventional stove pipe fitting 28 which extends in through'a corresponding opening in the shell or cabinet wall I and communicates with the usual chimney or stack. The cabinet top 3|, which may be formed integral, as shown, or as shown in the above-mentioned prior application, has

lzargeareaopenings formed by the stamped grille The lower end wall of the cabinet shell 1, ad- Jacent and underneath the oil tank 5, has an air inlet grille '34 which may be formed integral with the shell wall by stamped vanes, as shown. This opening provides an additional inlet for cooling air to rise up around the float valve unit I! and the oil tank 5 to cool them, and then r as. supplied to the burners it from the tank will have a natural chimney action or convection circulation to keep the oil tank and oil controls cool.

The bottoms. of the cabinet walls also have large area openings formed by the grille 35 on the other end and the back grille 33. These opening's provide a large area so that air may freely enter the bottom of the upwardly extending air heating passageways formed between the drum wall I and the radiation shield 66 and between the shield 66 and the cabinet walls I. Air will rise up through these passageways by normal convection. circulation and discharge through the open top formedjby grilles 29'. v

In addition to these lower openings, there is a relatively long and. narrow opening at the lower front of the cabinet formed by a series of grilles or horizontal slots 32. Preferably, these grillesare formed integral 'withthe side walls of .the cabinet I by cutting and bending in the out or to give a slight upward direction to the fan-forced air issuing from thelower end of the duct so that it will issue from the front of the heater in a substantially horizontal stream and will not strike the-floor close to the heater while it is'still at a hightemperature, all as hereinafter described. It will be noted that'grilles 33, 34 and 35 may be formed in the same manner, if desired for the sake of manufacturing simplicity. Since the opening formed by the grilles 32 is spaced from the'lower portion of the duct at 31, it will be apparent when the fan is not operating air may enter this opening 32 to rise up through the two passageways by normal convection circulation as described above, so that when the fan is not running these grilles 32 will supplement the air intake for convection circulation.

Access to the burners and the interior of the drum |8 is bad through'a conventional door H in the drum, opening 63 in the wall 66, and a pair of doors 68-48 in the front of the cabinet I.

Ahigh temperature, air heating. duct or conduit 36 extends downwardly through the expansion drum 1-3. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the upper portion of this duct 36 extends substantially horizontally, parallel to the front of the cabinet, and'adjacent the drum-top 8 to about the middle of the drum 1-8 between the two burners where it makes a gradual bend downwardly and extends down'over and between the two burners I. It then turns forwardly and at a uniform circular cross-section to a'wide, thinner cross-section to match the corresponding opening in the top of the connection portion 31. This connection 'portion'31,'forming the lower end of the duct, extends straight down in front of the burner and is relatively wide andshallow so that it will have approximately the same crosssectional area and yet will fit into the front of the cabinet without necessitating a deepening of the cabinet. It will be noted that this duct is of substantially uniform cross-sectional area and has gradual bends so that it will offer low resistance to air flow. The upright lower portion 31 is suitably secured by a flange or rim 33 to a the slightly warmed air :tank and along partition 6. l r i the waliflifasisho n infigsl, 2and a, and has 1 integral {ace wand -me DOlftfQilS' u.-"rn

lowerend oi the .fiace hasalhoriz ontally directed I l Qdischar'geopeningJZ which is somewhat smaller than the cross-sectional areaof this duct so that itf'willberelativelv'restrictedto thus' g'ivefa horizontal directingor jet meet to the air stream discharged'thereirom which issues through the grilles 32; the upwardly turned vanes of which give ita slight upward-directing effect to correct for any tendency of the air stream to move somewhat larger fan to beused fora given duct size and alsogincreases the velocity of the air acting'on these damper-members 55 and 56.

Figs. 4 and 5 show another or second embodiment of this invention in which most oi the structureandiarrangements are essentially the downwardly and strikethe floor 'closeto-the cabinet'. dueto the downward-movementof the air in thefportion 131'. Thus, the high temperature air is discharged close to 'the floor in a substantially horizontalstream which is' spaced' just high enough above the floor to avoid striking the floor and causingobjectionable *or dangerous. 7

over-heatingthereof until this stream-has moved out a suflicient distance from the-heater so that itis cooled by other air and the like; The blower to produce the-downwardflow of air through same as those illustrated .in theembodiment of Figs. 1', ligand 3. Accordingly, such partscarry the-samerefcrence-numerals and are not further described .Theduct or conduit 8| extends downwardly andfforwardly through the drum 'I 8 and its lower connections and portions are the same as shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3. However,the upperportion of this .duct extends to one side of the center-of the drum 1-8 so that it may pass through the back upper end of the drum I- 8 alongside of the stacl; connection 21-28, The upper end of. the conduit or duct II passes throughthe drum walls land is conically flared at 82 where it passes through walljiii A cor? responding taperedend of duct section 83 is a secured in this flared end 82. This' du'ct section motor-44 is mounted in the short duct'portion "49' in the inner partition plate- 5|? Thiszplate 5| has an inwardly extending skirt. or flange 52 around this same -aperture 49 fittinginside of and supporting a corresponding" cylindrical portion-of a tapered. duct member .53, the inner end oflwhich'extends throughwa corresponding "openingdnthewall 66 and has astraight portion fitting over the outer end of the ductmember .36;: Thus it will be apparent that members 46 and 53 form a part ofthe duct extending horizontally past orthrough the. partition 6 intothe l3 forms a cowling for a fan 43 which as disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. V, t

In ,-this embodiment of the invention,v the meansto prevent upward convection circulation 'ismounted of high temperature air-past theelectric motor smaller chamber above-the oil tank to draw'in rising up around, theoil It is rdesirable to provide means to prev nt upward flow-of the high temperature air past the electric motor 44 when the; motor and .-fan. are not operating to force the air downwardly. -This meansmay'be in the form of a; damper 55 comprising upper and lower semi-circular portions 55 and 56 mounted on pivots or horizontal flshaftsj] and}; passingthroughthe walls of the duct member 53; The lower shaft 58 isbeni {at its one end to; provide a crank portion 59 which, i s screw threadedl, to adiustably carry ecounterweights BI and 82 which also serve as a nut and lock' nut. ..Simila r1y the outer end ofthe upper shaft 51. isben't to form a crank 63 screw thr eaded to 'adjustably, carry nut and lock nut counterweights i4. and tlffl'hjcoiznterwifw el ghts $54 and as slightly over-balance the damper sector 55, jan'd the Tdamperl sector". 56 slightly overbalances thecounter-weights BI and 82," that upon failure or stopping ofthe fan counterweights i4 and "(but positioned a difierent distance out from the pivot shaft to exert different moments.

are essentiallyithe same as those disclosed in Figs, 1, 2 and 3. Pivot shafts 8.1. and :88 journaled in thessides of the upper end of the duct B l rigidly carry damper segments l 89 y and 9! which, when the fanis not running, normally assume an upright position to close this portion of the duct. A counterweighlt9 '2 is adjustable on V athreaded rod 9.3 extending out in the planeof the damperusector 89 :to biasjthisl sector 50 that it will move upwardly and to the right uponlstop ping. of the fan. The counterweight 94'; adjust- V abie on a threaded rod 95, does' notfquite baland to the right a It will be apparent that the ance the sector 9| so that upon stoppingof the fan this sectortis moved by gravity downward fan maybe used to circulateairin a room when the burners are not being used in the summertime or the like.

While only two embodiments of this invention are illustrated and described in detail herein, it isto be understood thatvarious changes and modifications may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the (spirit and scope ofthis inventiomand therefore the same is only to be limited by the scope of the prior art and the appended claims.

I claim:

.fioor supported cabinet casing .having a'la'teral opening in its lower portion; an upright; direct "fired, heating drumj therein, a relatively short,

a high temperature air heating duct having a substantialiy straight intermediate portion: extending downwardly through said drum-and having bent upper and lower: ends opening through the c5 4 --late high temperature :air down through said 1 duct and out said lateraliopening in the lower portionoi said upright casing, which opening is positioned close to but safely .above the floorto sides or 'sald drum, andblower means-to circuuprevent locaiiaoverheating thereof, by said high Itemperature air., a V

- 2- 2;Aroom heatercomprising an upright combustion heating unit, an upright, floor supported cabinet inclosing said upright combustion heating unit and having an opening in its lower front 4 portion, a propeller type fan, an air heating duct extending downwardly through said heating unit to be heated thereby and having an upper intake opening and a, lower, laterally directed, long,

wardly therethrough, and the lower end merging into a wide and shallow cross-section to correspond to its lower opening; said duct being of substantially uniform cross-sectional area.

3. A unit space heater comprising an upright, floor supported casing having an open top and lower openings, a direct fired, upright, expansion drum spaced within said casing to form an up right air heating passageway communicating with said openings so that air will enter the lower openings and rise and discharge through said open top by normal convection circulation, a smaller, separate, air heating duct extending downwardly through said drum and having an upper air intake and a lower lateral air discharge opening through the lower portion of the casing side wall, a grille embodying air flow directing vanes associated with said discharge opening in said casing wall, and a blower at the upper end of said duct to force air down it and out its dis charge opening. 7

4. A unit space heater comprising an upright, jloor supported casing having an open top and lower openings, two liquid fuel burners spaced side by side in the bottom of said casing, an upright expansion drum for the products of combustion over said burners and spaced inwardly from said upright casing to form an upwardly extending, air heating passageway communicating with said lower openings and open top for normal, upward convection air circulation therethrough, a high temperature, air heating duct having an upper air intake and extending through said drum and downwardly and forwardly over and between said burners and having a lower discharge opening, blower means associated with said duct to force air downwardly therethrough and out an opening in the lower front portion of said casing corresponding to the lower openlng'of the duct.

5. A room heater comprising an upright, floor supported cabinet, an upright, direct fired heating unit therein, a high temperature air heating duct having open upperand lower ends and extending downwardly through said heating unit, a fan and coupled electric motor in the upper end of said duct-to force air downwardly therethrough, and means movable responsive to the non-operation of said fan to prevent hot air circulating up said duct and upwardly past said motor to overheat it. V

(in unit space heater for rooms or the like comprising an upright, floor supported cabinet having an open top, and the width of which is appreciably greater than its thickness from front to back, an inner, upright partition shield extending from front to back toward one end to form twojunequalsize, open top chambers, a liquid fuel tank, a lower burner means, anupright expansion drum, the smaller chamber having bottom openings and containing said liquid fuel tank spaced inwardly so that cooling air may rise up around said tank by convection, the larger chamber having lower openings and inclosing said lower burner means connected to said tank and said upright expansion drum for the products .of combustion abovesaid burner means, said drum being spaced inwardly to form with said cabinet an upwardly extending air heating passageway communicating with said lower openings and said open top for upward convection circulation of heated air, a high temperature air heating duct having open upper and lower ends and extending downwardly through said drum and having a blower to circulate air downwardly therethrougn, the upper end opening into the upper portion of said smaller chamber above the oil tank to receive the warmed air rising therein, and the lower and opening laterally into the room through the lower portion of the cabinet.

7. The organization set forth in claim 6 in which the upper end of said duct extends horizontally' past said partition into said smaller chamber.

8. The organization set forth in claim 6 in which the lower end of saidduct opens into the 1 room through the front of said cabinet close to but spaced above the floor.

9. A unit room heater comprising an upright,

. floor supported cabinet, the width of which is greater than its depth from front to back, an upright, direct fired, heating unit therein, a relatively short, high temperature air heating duc't having open upper and lower ends and having a substantially straight intermediate portion extending downwardly through said drum, the upper portion of said duct extending substantially horizontally and parallel to the cabinet front into the upper portion of said heating unit, and the lower portion of said duct extending forwardly A to open through the lower front of said cabinet.

10. A unit room heater confprising an upright, floor supported cabinet, an upright, direct fired, heating unit therein, a relatively short high temperature air heating duct having open upper and lower ends and having a blower to force air downwardly therethrough, the upper portion of said duct extending substantially horizontally through the back of said heating unit, the intermediate portion being substantially straight and extending downwardly and forwardly in said heating unit, and the lower opening of said duct discharging its high temperature air out through an opening in the lower front of said cabinet.

11. The organization set forth in claim 10 in which the blower is an upright propeller-type fan located in the upper, horizontal portion of said duct outside and back of said heating unit.

12. A unit room heater comprising an upright, floor supported cabinet, burner means of appreciable height in its lower portion and an upright expansion drum for confining the products of combustion over said burner means, a high temperature air heating duct having an upper intake opening and extending through said drum downwardly and forwardly, spaced over said burner means, and having a shallpw, wider, upright lower portion extending straight down in front of said burner means inside of said cabinet, a dis charge means for the lower end of said duct discharging through the upright cabinet front adjacent the bottom of said burner means and the room floor, and blower means to force air down through said duct and out its lower discharge means.

13. A unit room heater comprising an upright, floor supported casing, an upright, directflred, heating drum therein and having a stack connection through its upper back wall, a relatively short, high temperature air heating duct having a substantially'straight intermediate portion extending downwardly through said drum, having bent and open upper and lower ends, and having a blower to force air downwardly therethrough, the upper portion of said ductextending through the upper'back wall of saidldrum close alongside of said stack and the lower opening discharging its high temperature air outthrough the lower portion of said cabinet.-- f" i 14. A unit room heater comprising an upright,

lower openings, an upright, di'rectflred heating unit spaced therein to provide an upwardly extending air heating passageway communicating with said openings sothat air will enter the lower openings and rise and discharge through the open top bynormal, convection circulation, a

high temperature air heating duct extending downwardly insaid casingand contiguous to and heated by said unit, said duct'having a blower foriorcingair downwardly therethrough, an intake opening at its upper end, and a horizontally-clirected discharge opening at its lower end, and-a grille forming horizontally-directing open: ings in thelower portion of the wall or the upright casing at the level or said horizontally-directed opening, said horizontally-directed j open-- lower openings, a direct fired, upright expansion drum spaced within said casing to form an upright air heating passageway communicating with said openings so that air will enter the lowof openings and rise and discharge through said a open top by normal convectioncirculation, only one separate. smaller air heating duct having a substantially straight intermediate portion extending. downwardly in the essential portion of said drum and its upper portion bent and extending laterally (through the upper side wall of floor supported casingfihaving an open top and ing being directed toward but spaced from said grille so that it will discharge its horizontal stream of high temperature air therethrough into the room when the blower is running and so that.

when the blowerisnot running, additional air can'enter said grille for the upward convection circulation.

15. A unit space heater comprising an upright.

floor supported casing havingan open top and the drum and having an upper air intake and a lower lateral opening at the lower end of the duct for discharging air out through a corresponding lateral opening in the lower portion of the upright casing, and a blower in the upper end of said duct. 7 16. A unit space heater comprising an up-- right, -floor supported cabinet casing, a burner, a stack, an uprightair heating unit enclosing said burner and connected to said stack, said upright air heating unit being spaced inwardly from the walls of said casing to provide an air heating passageway, said casing having upper and lower openings communicating with saidpassageway I for upward air circulation therethrough, a relatively short, air" heating duct extending downwardly through said unit in heat exchange relation with said burner, a blower to circulate air down through said duct, an upper air intake for said duct, and the lower portion of said duct extending laterally through the' side wall of said unit above said burner and having a lower lateral discharge for the high temperature air from said duct opening through said casing.

ROBERT B EVANS. 

